TITLE
II-EMERGENCY ACTION TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY IN THE ALAMO RIVER
AND NEW RIVER

Sec. 201. Alamo River and New River irrigation drainage water.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) The term ''Committees'' means the Committee on Resources
and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources and the Committee on Environmental and Public Works of
the Senate.

(2) The term ''Salton Sea Authority'' means the Joint Powers
Authority by that name established under the laws of the State of
California by a Joint Power Agreement signed on June 2, 1993.

(3) The term ''Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior,
acting through the Bureau of Reclamation.

TITLE I - SALTON SEA FEASIBILITY
STUDY

SEC. 101. SALTON SEA FEASIBILITY STUDY
AUTHORIZATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.- No later than January 1, 2000,
the Secretary, in accordance with this section, shall complete all
feasibility studies and cost analyses for the options set forth in
subsection (b)(2)(A) necessary for Congress to fully evaluate such
options.

(b) FEASIBILITY STUDY.
-

(1) IN GENERAL.
-

(A) The Secretary shall complete
all studies, including, but not limited to environmental and
other reviews, of the feasibility and benefit-cost of various
options that permit the continued use of the Salton Sea as a
reservoir for irrigation drainage and: (i) reduce and stabilize
the overall salinity of the Salton Sea; (ii) stabilize the
surface elevation of the Salton Sea; (iii) reclaim, in the long
term, healthy fish and wildlife resources and their habitats;
and (iv) enhance the potential for recreational uses and
economic development of the Salton Sea.

(B) Based solely on whatever information is
available at the time of submission of the report, the
Secretary shall: (i) identify any options he deems economically
feasible and cost effective; (ii) identify an additional
information necessary to develop construction specifications;
and (iii) submit any recommendations, along with the results of
the study to the Committees no later than January 1, 2000.

(C)(i) The Secretary shall carry
out the feasibility study in accordance with a memorandum of
understanding entered into by the Secretary, the Salton Sea
Authority, and the Governor of California.

(ii) The memorandum of understanding shall, at a
minimum, establish criteria for evaluation and selection of
options under subparagraph (2)(A), including criteria for
determining benefit and the magnitude and practicability of
costs of construction, operation, and maintenance of each
option evaluated.

(2) OPTIONS
TO BE CONSIDERED. - Options considered in the
feasibility study -

(A) shall consist of, but need not be limited to -

(i) use of impoundments to segregate a portion
of the water of the Salton Sea in one or more evaporation ponds
located in the Salton Sea basin;
(ii) pumping water out of the Salton Sea;
(iii) augmented flows of water into the Salton
Sea;
(iv) a combination of the options referred to in
clauses (i), (ii), and (iii); and
(v) any other economically feasible remediation
option the Secretary considers appropriate and for which
feasibility analyses and cost estimates can be completed by
January 1, 2000;

(B) shall be limited to proven technologies; and

(C) shall not include any option that -

(i) relies on the importation of any new or
additional water from the Colorado River; or
(ii) is inconsistent with the provisions of
subsection (c).

(3)
ASSUMPTIONS. - In evaluating options, the Secretary
shall apply assumptions regarding water inflows into the Salton
Sea Basin that encourage water conservation, account for transfers
of water out of the Salton Sea Basin, and are based on a maximum
likely reduction in inflows into the Salton Sea Basin which could
be 800,000 acre-feet or less per year.

(4) CONSIDERATION
OF COSTS.- In evaluating the feasibility of
options, the Secretary shall consider the ability of Federal,
tribal, State and local government sources and private sources to
fund capital construction costs and annual operation, maintenance,
energy, and replacement costs and shall set forth the basis for
any cost sharing allocations as well as anticipated repayment, if
any, of Federal contributions.

(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER
LAW. -

(1) RECLAMATION
LAWS.- Activities authorized by this Act shall
not be subject to the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388; 43
U.S.C. 391 et seq.), and Acts amendatory thereof and supplemental
thereto. Amounts expended for those activities shall be considered
nonreimbursable for purposes of those laws and shall not be
considered to be a supplemental or additional benefit for purposes
of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 1263; 43 U.S.C.
390aa et seq.).

(2) PRESERVATION OF RIGHTS
AND OBLIGATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE COLORADO RIVER. -
This Act shall not be considered to supersede or otherwise affect
any treaty, law, decree, contract, or agreement governing use of
water from the Colorado River. All activities taken under this Act
must be carried out in a manner consistent with rights and
obligations of persons under those treaties, laws, decrees,
contracts, and agreements.

SEC. 102. CONCURRENT WILDLIFE RESOURCES
STUDIES.

(a) IN GENERAL.- The Secretary shall provide for the conduct, concurrently
with the feasibility study under section 101(b), of studies of
hydrology, wildlife pathology, and toxicology relating to wildlife
resources of the Salton Sea by Federal and non-Federal entities.

(b) SELECTION OF
TOPICS AND MANAGEMENT OF STUDIES. -

(1) IN
GENERAL.- The Secretary shall establish a
committee to be known as the ''Salton Sea Research Management
Committee''. The committee shall select the topics of studies
under this section and manage those studies.

(2)
MEMBERSHIP. - The committee shall consist of the
following five members:

(A) The Secretary.
(B) The Governor of California.
(C) The Executive Director of the Salton Sea Authority.
(D) The Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla
Tribal Government.
(E) The Director of the California Water Resources
Center.

(c)
COORDINATION.- The Secretary shall require that
studies under this section are coordinated through the Science
Subcommittee which reports to the Salton Sea Research Management
Committee. In addition to the membership provided for by the
Science Subcommittee's charter, representatives shall be invited
from the University of California, Riverside; the University of
Redlands; San Diego State University; the Imperial Valley College;
and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

(d) PEER
REVIEW. - The Secretary shall require that studies
under this section are subjected to peer review.

(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS. - For wildlife resources studies
under this section there are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary, through accounts within the Fish and Wildlife Service,
exclusively, $5,000,000.

(f ) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. - The
committee, and its activities, are not subject to the Federal
Advisory Commission Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

(a) REFUGE
RENAMED.- The Salton Sea National Wildlife
Refuge, located in Imperial County, California, is hereby renamed
and shall be known as the ''Sonny Bono Salton Sea National
Wildlife Refuge''.

(b) REFERENCES.
- Any reference in any statute, rule, regulation, Executive order,
publication, map, or paper or other document of the United States
to the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge is deemed to refer to
the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.

TITLE II&emdash;EMERGENCY ACTION
TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY IN THE ALAMO RIVER AND NEW
RIVER

SEC. 201. ALAMO RIVER AND NEW RIVER
IRRIGATION DRAINAGE WATER.

(a) RIVER
ENHANCEMENT. -

(1) IN
GENERAL.- The Secretary is authorized and directed
to promptly conduct research and construct river reclamation
and wetlands projects to improve water quality in the Alamo
River and New River, Imperial County, California, by treating
water in those rivers and irrigation drainage water that flows
into those rivers.

(2)
ACQUISITIONS. - The Secretary may acquire equipment,
real property from willing sellers, and interests in real
property (including site access) from willing sellers as needed
to implement actions under this section if the State of
California, a political subdivision of the State, or Desert
Wildlife Unlimited has entered into an agreement with the
Secretary under which the State, subdivision, or Desert
Wildlife Unlimited, respectively, will, effective 1 year after
the date that systems for which the acquisitions are made are
operational and functional -

(A) accept all right, title, and interest in and to
the equipment, property, or interests; and
(B) assume responsibility for operation and maintenance of
the equipment, property, or interests.

(3) TRANSFER OF
TITLE. - Not later than 1 year after the date a
system developed under this section is operational and
functional, the Secretary shall transfer all right, title, and
interest of the United States in and to all equipment,
property, and interests acquired for the system in accordance
with the applicable agreement under paragraph (2).

(4) MONITORING
AND OTHER ACTIONS. - The Secretary shall establish a
long-term monitoring program to maximize the effectiveness of
any wetlands developed under this title and may implement other
actions to improve the efficacy of actions implemented pursuant
to this section.

(c) FEDERAL WATER
POLLUTION CONTROL. - Water withdrawn solely for the
purpose of a wetlands project to improve water quality under
subsection (a)(1), when returned to the Alamo River or New River,
shall not be required to meet water quality standards under the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).

(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS. - For river reclamation and other
irrigation drainage water treatment actions under this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
$3,000,000.